Friday, December 30, 2016

Some mornings as I go through the motions of what I refer to
as “chores”, I’m reminded of some event or some person’s story that gives more
meaning to what I’m doing than the wagging tails or happy clucks I get as I go
along feeding, watering and turning out animals for the day.

It’s no secret that when I started out here it wasn’t to
save the world, my neighborhood or anything really heroic. It was actually to
make it easier for me to get clean food and save my little farmer’s market, and
my home. It was a survival tactic.

Over the years, however, it has become a bit of a mission
you could say. Some say, an obsession. Others still, an addiction. Call it what
you want – I still call it, survival.

It’s a type of survival that I really didn’t know I needed
back when I began.

I thought what I was doing was simply going to pay the bills
and allow me to be a productive member of society, while not having to trek 20
miles for organic groceries. Maybe allow me to have a little more free time than the
corporate grind had provided. And I suppose it does – even if that free time
doesn’t always come when I’d choose it. And those little pink disconnection
notices are sometimes narrowly avoided because there’s not a weekly paycheck
like with a “job”.It’s a seasonal check
and you learn to budget, both money and your time, in very creative ways.

But the kind of survival it provides other than usually keeping
the bill collectors at bay, is that of what many others don’t survive; poor
health.

Maybe some of it is my genes. Granted I have an American
Indian and Italian/Sicilian or Mediterranean heritage, so perhaps a bit of the
best of 2 worlds when it comes to the benefits of age-old diets ingrained into
my DNA.

But there are plenty of people with what should be good
genes getting sick and feeling poorly, and vice versa. And I may have been on
that same path myself, if over 15 years ago I’d not started doing things a bit
differently. And had my mother not been the homemaker she was, providing us 3
square meals a day, every day, for the first 13 years of my life. Something I
do not take for granted or lightly. And lessons I still fall back on today. Thank
you, Mom.

I tell folks I was an organic gardener before being organic
was “cool”. And I was. Some of it was out of benign neglect and some out of
frugality. (I prefer that word over “cheap” because it makes me sound smart
instead of stingy.) And now I definitely do it out of
wisdom and not stinginess – or lack of funds – as it were at the time. Gardening
wasn’t something my ex-husband saw much merit in and so golf clubs took
priority in the limited budget. I used what I had and could get on the cheap –
shovels, soil and seeds.

What is it then, that separates some people into categories
of healthy or sickly? Certainly I am not going to speak in terms of absolutes,
because we all can find or even know of an exception to them. The 90 year old 2
pack a day smoker who ate greasy fast food daily and the 35 year old health-food nut who never touched tobacco, never lived
with a smoker and yet suffered from emphysema and heart disease to their early grave.

I will, however, make the argument that sometimes a person
can throw themselves out into traffic and survive while others may not. I don’t
honestly think fate controls everything. We have, and make, choices. How much
risk do you want to leave up to odds when it comes to your life or your
health?Or that of your family and loved
ones?

I take that same equation and apply it to my customers. I
don’t know what tips the scale for other people, so I’ll err on the side of
caution when it comes to what I sell them. That’s why I have an all organic farmer’s market and garden shop.

We’ll not split hairs on the “rules” that the USDA has
created, bent and adjusted to “regulate” (i.e. allow) large corporate food
factories the ability to make more profit by being “certified organic”.

Let’s just suffice it to say that organic gardening, to most
reasonable people, means not using synthetic chemicals or those which we know
will subsist in the soil and/or on the food or flowers we grow – in the ground.

I felt I needed to add those last three words because the
ever growing popular method of growing food in soil-less environments is, in the
opinion of many dirt farmers, not really organic growing.

"After all, if it’s not a drug, it can’t make you well – according
to the FDA."

It may be synthetic chemical free, but without the soil, and
its countless un-duplicable benefits, it’s just not the same. The flavor isn’t
the same. The nutrient density isn’t the same. And while it may be safer to eat
than its conventionally grown, toxic pesticide doused counterparts, grown
without carbon-based soil is not, in my opinion and that of many others, truly
organic. But that’s perhaps another conversation. I’d rather, of course, you ate that, than
conventional – if it were your only 2 choices.

But it’s not our only two choices. Here in Dallas and across
the country in most well populated areas, there is a plethora of choices for
obtaining organically grown whole, wholesome foods, even grown in local soil, in some cases. And when I
say whole-foods, I mean unadulterated, unprocessed, untainted and in its
original form. Not necessarily what you find in any particular store by a
similar name. Or any store for that matter.

Supermarkets have to meet budgets to pay employees and
stockholders. They’re going to sell a lot of stuff. Some of it may not be as wholesome as you think. And that’s all I’m
going to say on that subject.

And when I say well populated, I really guess I mean, well-to-do, because we all are becoming familiar with the phrase food desert, and it rarely applies to neighborhoods with the demographics of upper incomes. That's why, in large part, markets and shops that pop up in these food desert neighborhoods so desperately need to be supported. In some cases, they're the only source of healthful, organic and local food to which the community has access.

There are increasingly more locations where actual farmers gather
to bring consumers directly what they may not find in even most independent stores.
Likely, what they’ll never find in supermarkets. And it takes a little work to
find some of them or make their schedule jive with yours. I will grant you that. But if it were a matter of survival, what steps
would you take to make it happen?

Well, without getting myself into trouble with the FDA, I
will just say that we know for a fact that there is a direct correlation to
eating well and good health. Saying any more than that could probably get me
into trouble.

After all, if it’s not a drug, it can’t make you well – according
to the FDA. And food, clearly, is not a drug. Even though many years ago it was
said to let food be thy medicine, someone forgot to tell the FDA – or they just
decided that it wasn’t going to be profitable enough for their allies and
friends in high places, so they decided it wasn’t true. (Who said that if you
tell a lie 3 times people will believe it? [cough, cough] )

But without me making any claims, I can assure you that if
you spoke to enough co-workers, neighbors, relatives or Facebook friends, you
will find someone who has an experience that will rival that of the FDA’s
claims.

Yet organized or commercialized telling of the truth about
how people get over illnesses, fought off diseases, and even just had more
energy or felt better – truth of experiences – is not allowed. At least not
without a disclaimer basically saying it may not be true because the federal
government says so.

I can, however, tell you of the woman who sought me out at
one of my Market Days to thank me for helping teach her how to garden at home. And
that her family has never felt healthier since eating so much home-grown food.
And I think I can get away with telling you that I’ve had customers tell me
that nothing they buy at the grocery store compares to what they buy at my
market when it comes to flavor or freshness. Or that a woman previously diagnosed as
lactose intolerant was able to miraculously drink unpasteurized milk without
suffering any symptoms. But it’s probably not safe to say any more than that.

I was reminded recently of a speech given by raw milk
dairyman Mark McAfee several years ago at a conference of producers. He was
encouraging them to “break the law” by verbally sharing these kinds of stories,
like those told to him from customers who’d been plagued with asthma, IBS, Crohn’s,
pasteurized milk intolerance, etc., and found relief – gasp, a cure? – after
including dairy products from him into their diets.

Against all federal government wisdom, CA allows people to
sell and buy real milk products at the store, so long as the dairy passes
inspections. Of course, retailers had to learn how to properly display the
product as well as educate consumers on proper storage. I tell fellow members
of a raw milk co-op what a dairyman told me – keep it at the very back of the
fridge so it stays super cold and it will last a long time. And it does. I often
get 2 weeks out of a gallon. That is if I don’t drink it all first.

"One good thing out of the USDA since Mr. Vilsack took over,
is the slogan Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food."

Mark is right though. Farmers and ranchers and dairymen/women
have a big part of the good health key of survival in their hands. All
consumers need to do in order to get a copy of that key, is rearrange their
schedule a little bit, change up their priorities and think of it as a key to what
it really is - actual survival.

Slowly but surely news of the spikes in preventable, chronic illnesses
are making more headlines. Usually, though, it’s not on the nightly news or in
mainstream media. Instead it’s tucked away in various indie owned publications
often thought of as “fringe” or liberal.

Is it liberal or fringe to want to feel well? To have your
family feel well? To operate at their best potential?

But surely you see on the news the one in 3 million people of
the city who had something dramatic or awful happen to them overnight. Or some
obscure story that really doesn’t affect us or our daily existence. Rarely do we
hear of the odds gaining on childhood obesity
rates, childhood type
2 diabetic cases climbing, or increases in other various
lifestyle/nutrition related chronic illness and diseases. No, those wouldn’t
compliment the paid commercials that keep the news on the air. But, perhaps if
we did have it in our faces as much as we do pop culture or other “news”, we’d
pay more attention. And respond accordingly.

The key to your best chance at surviving these things isn’t
all that hard to obtain, really. But there are lots of duplicate and even some
counterfeit keys out there so buyer beware.

One good thing out of the USDA since Mr. Vilsack took over,
is the slogan Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.

Who is your
farmer? Rancher? Dairyman? Fisherman? Beekeeper? Who makes your sausage? Your jelly or
jam, pickles, bread and cheese? Can you say you know how many pairs of hands
your “fresh” produce passed through before it was slipped into that cellophane
covered Styrofoam container and put on a shelf? Much less how long it's been since it saw soil? Harvested prematurely for shipping quality is common even in large scale organic production. How much would anyone pay for a pound of smashed heirloom tomatoes?

We’re all being brainwashed into thinking that bacteria are
evil causes of death when in fact, as Mr. McAfee so pointedly covers in
his speech, they are the givers of life.And the food on the shelves offered for sale in the supermarket, are
generally devoid of bacteria. It is dead.

Lifeless, “food-like substances”, a phrase coined by author
and writer Michael
Pollan, can do little but provide empty calories to give us some energy to make
it through to the next empty calorie meal.

Just
because something can sit on a shelf for 5 years and still be edible, doesn’t
make it good for you. By removing all of the bacteria, the very life, from something and
adding salt, sugar, fat and preservatives to it, we haven’t created some new good
thing. We’ve destroyed one. Food spoils for a reason. It’s lost its value. Mold
and fungi beat you to the punch and started to consume it first.

We,
by design, need nutrients and whole foods to be sustained. To survive. There’s that word again.
And I’m not using it to be an alarmist. Just a realist.

It’s
no secret that the (bad) joke is that 2016 has taken away so many pop-culture
icons from the 80’s and that many, far too many, were at quite a younger age
than what we normally think of people exiting this planet. I can’t help but
wonder what some of the differences in the diets of some of them may have been.
Apparently, no amount of fame or fortune can fix what years of abuse or neglect
can do to a body once it reaches a certain point.

"In some cases
it’s like not realizing they should have had life preservers and a radio on the
boat until after it springs a leak and starts to sink. In the middle of shark
infested waters."

Our
bodies are pretty resilient. Made to take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’, as the
old watch commercial claimed. But they’re not designed to take a kicking – meal
after meal, week in and week out and year after year; especially if we’re not
providing it the means to filter out toxins, repair damage and build immunity
by eating healthful foods.

How
much of this behavior can our bodies take before they break down? How much
before a developing brain is inhibited? An immune system retarded or never
fully developed to protect the body decades down the road?

Food, Inc. made millions aware of the questionable trail their food takes before they eat it

I
hear from some of you, stories of people driving cross-town to save .50 on a lb
of bananas, elated at the deal on close-out CAFO meats about to spoil, “cheap”
eggs, concoctions in a box that are super easy to make and on sale 10 for $10,
etc.

And
yet, we see expensive vacations, smart phones all around for everyone, new cars
and big houses requiring double incomes of extensive hour jobs and more. But
our health’s first line of defense, food, is sought at bargain basement prices.

It’s
no wonder people say they "can’t afford organic food". They can't hardly afford any kind of food that's not so subsidized by the government that it's sold in its raw form for less than the farmer's production costs. America has spent a lot of
their money on “stuff” that won’t really make much difference in the long run.
In fact, much of what they buy will break after just a few years and need to be
replaced.

The
number of people lost to bacterial outbreaks caused by food, not only pales in
comparison to those lost by RX’s, but is generally the result of previously
wholesome foods being over-handled and processed into something compromising,
not food in its original, raw, whole state.

I
have been growing some food for myself for many years. Decades. I only decided
to make a living at growing for others a few years ago. But in that amount of
time I’ve met so many people who are like-minded, but only becoming so out of
duress.

And
that makes me very sad.In some cases
it’s like not realizing they should have had life preservers and a radio on the
boat until after it springs a leak and starts to sink. In the middle of shark
infested waters.

No
one eats “clean” every bite. At least no one I know of. And certainly not me.
I’ve confessed to not liking maple syrup and using instead processed, flavored
corn syrup. And I can’t sit through a movie without a bucket of popcorn and
something to wash it down.

However,
fast food to me means Chipotle, and the stench of sitting at a light outside of
a traditional fast-food chain is sickening to me. I typically eat vegetables
that I or someone I know grew – in season. When I eat animal products, be it
dairy, honey or meat, it’s again, conscious of the steward and the manner in
which it was brought to market.

Hedging
your bets by adding more clean food to your diet, even gradually, seems like a
smart thing to do. I generally don’t eat pancakes and “syrup” but a few times a
month. And perhaps if they were across the street and I had the extra money,
I’d treat myself to a movie or a steak burrito more frequently than a few times
a year.

But
because, in large part, most people don’t see the value in paying more for
groceries that provide my living, I’m limited. And maybe that’s a good thing.
Because I, too, grew up in the era of up and coming convenience foods, and I can
see it become a temptation to skip making dinner for eating out more frequently
than I do, had I the access and means to do so.

"Fill in the blanks of your grocery list where you
need to. But your local organic farmer is your best, first line of defense in
the game of survival."

How
much would you pay for survival?

What’s
the value of an airbag? A parachute? A life preserver?

The
lack of these things when needed, produce most certain instant negative
results. If only we could make ourselves see at the time we begin our eating
habits, that the lack of eating a more wholesome, unadulterated diet was going
to result, most likely, in slow, often painful, and certainly expensive,
series’ of consequences – often with an unhappy and uncomfortable, ultimate early ending.

Watching
the life of someone we know come to a premature end is sometimes the only
warning needed. For others, it’s an alarm when pain of their own body comes.
Sadly for some, for too many, convenience or lack of self care, wins over
awareness of the long term damage being done and the outcome is rarely
pleasant.

Know
your farmers. Know your food. Fill in the blanks of your grocery list where you
need to. But your local organic farmer is your best, first line of defense in
the game of survival.

And
most of us, don’t take that responsibility lightly. We live and breathe our
work. We’re agtivists asking you to sign petitions, write letters to Congress
and vote both with your dollars at the store and your rights each election day. We ask you to be pro-active.

Farming
or even growing a big family garden can be long, arduous work. And it doesn’t
always pay as well for the skill set the farmer could demand under other
circumstances. Most farmers wear many hats including plumber, electrician, handyman, accountant, marketing executive, CEO, veterinarian, chef and more.

But
I can honestly say that becoming a farmer, even on the small scale that I do
it, is the most consuming, disappointing, educational, interesting, monotonous,
satisfying, uplifting and worthwhile occupation at which I have ever tried my
hand.

Oliver adoring baby chicks

One big smile from a youngster as a chicken huddles over her new chicks, or has a rooster eat cracked corn from their
hand,the excitement when they suddenly realize they're planting future French fries,

Clark w/his carrot

or they're
experiencing livestock for the first time, the delight on their face when picking or savoring their favorite veggie – can cancel out the rough mornings of broken frozen
water pipes, foundation
and plumbing issues on an old farmhouse, another lost crop and loud neighbors that come with owning an urban
farm on a commercial strip of street. Sometimes all on the same day.

Knowing that perhaps just one person will
benefit from my nagging about eating better, makes potentially alienating
others worth the risk of doing so.

I
know we do it from a place of compassion and love and I hope others know that is our motivation
as well. In the end, for me, it’s about helping people in my community achieve
access and want to have access to, healthy, safe, wildly nutritious food – at
affordable prices - without being broke myself.

Julianna tending chickens on vacation

But if it were solely to make
a living, with the living I’ve made thus far, it could be had doing something
much less worrisome, time-consuming and uncomfortable. Even so, it still
wouldn’t be nearly as fulfilling.

You know these are French fries in the making right?

I
hope you’ll go into 2017 resolving to scale back things that keep you from
being able to afford to pay a few bucks more a week on groceries, a few hours
more a month at the farm and for meal planning and gain the benefits of preparing, from scratch,
more, much more, of the food you and your family consume - and consume it together around the kitchen table.

Let 2017 be a year of
re-prioritizing for the sake of good health. Happy New Year everyone!

Sunday, December 25, 2016

As I sit here typing this morning, it's a balmy 68F, and with the humidity at 99%, my back porch floor is soaked with "sweat". To my old friends back up north this may not be what they consider very "in the spirit of the holidays", but this former Chicagoan prefers to slip out the back door without the need of several layers of clothing topped by a pair of Carhart coveralls, gloves, hat and boots to keep from freezing.

The sunrise was lovely, although I was a bit late this morning catching only the final remnants of it. The critters are starting to stir and will soon be looking for breakfast. We're not a particularly "up before the crack of dawn" sort of farm outfit here at Eden's. The farmer wakes when she's done sleeping and often will fill her belly, or sit down to write, before heading out the door for chores. No one seems to mind. In fact, often I find critters still sleeping in, when I come out earlier than the norm.

So while I reflect back on 2016 and its certain challenges to the world, I'm grateful that it was a year of growth for this farm. The soils are improving. I'm gaining more knowledge and experience about how to work within the soil's confines and what I can do to nurture it into something more like what it once was, before decades of neglect, overgrazing and erosion got the best of it.

Our harvests have been ample, delicious and steady this year. Granted, that last bout of freezing weather we had wiped out several things I wasn't able to cover. But the cabbage plants, most of the flowering broccoli, about half of the lettuces, some of the fava beans and beets - they should continue to grow and mature to harvest. The rest will be pulled and replaced by transplants awaiting in the greenhouse. And yet more will be seeded for later planting.

Life everywhere, as on the farm, is a constant cycle of growth and often at the end of growth comes demise, be it by harvest or other means. The wildlife see to it that the "other means" often include feeding them. Which I pretty much have to count on. There's plenty to share, generally, with the occasional hungry rabbit or squirrel. Although, the quite grown up shop cats get hungry now and then, too.....

Before a recent cold front, one of the "shop squirrels" drags pieces of frost cloth up to his/her nest.

I'm reminded of the simplicity things appear to be made of, as I walk my farm and observe the way Nature's creatures seem to just scamper along jovially without much care. Like the leaves and seed that blow directionless in the wind.

Behind that seemingly careless front, however, they are all fulfilling an instinctive need that is driving them. Be it to feed themselves, protect themselves, rest, or store up food for later consumption - much of what they do really does have purpose. Except I suppose when they're just plain being silly and amusing us. Maybe that's their purpose in those moments, to make us smile and laugh.

Certainly, we can all use a bit more laughter in life.

As you and your families go about your morning rituals today, tiptoeing around trying not to wake up Mom, opening presents, gathering with family and sharing in memory making, do me a little favor. Please pause before you eat, and think of the hands that selected the seeds, that were previously gathered, planted, nurtured the plants that then produced the fruit or vegetable, grain or seed that you carefully selected and prepared.
Every meal I am fortunate enough to prepare and sit down to at home, contains more and more food that has been touched by hands I know. And it's a very peaceful, satisfying feeling.

There's just something magical about the dots being connected between the food on your plate and its source. Nothing came from plastic covered Styrofoam containers. Nothing fell into those carefully misted bins at the supermarket in the form that they lay there. And let's not forget those who transport the food we are not able to get directly from the source. Keeping our carbon footprint as small as possible is one thing, but we'd not enjoy the variety of diet many of us do, were it not for planes, trains and automobiles once in awhile.

I hope more people are able to experience that direct connection with the source of more of their food in the future. I can tell you from personal experience, getting to meet the people responsible for feeding you - is quite a humbling feeling.

We are all dependent upon each other. We to them for growing, raising or catching our food, and them to us to buy and consume it.

Know your farmer, (fisherman and rancher). Know your food.

No farms. No food.

Who's Your Farmer?

The bumper sticker sayings are endless. But they all come down to the face and hands of someone, a person, who made what you eat possible. And to me, knowing them, makes it even more delicious.

In just a few weeks, I will gather with many, many farmers and ranchers, at the annual TOFGA conference being held here in Mesquite this year. Eden's
is co-hosting a seed swap as one of the activities which is
representative of one of the oldest traditions in farming. Sharing
seeds. And telling the stories of how we grow food, what worked and what
didn't, is at least as important as the directions on any package of
seed. Heirloom seeds are our connection to our past. And, to our future
of stable, nutritious, beautiful food. I'm so looking forward to seeing the faces of fellow farmers and ranchers! (It is open to the public, too.)

Ratatouille – Dallas Fresh Veggie Style If my memory serves me correctly, the first time I was served ratatouille, it had b...

What Is CSA?

Community Supported Agricultureis a unique relationship between a local farmer and local consumers that helps minimize inherent risk to the farmer and provides transparency of food source to the consumer.

Members pledge an annual commitment towards the farm's budget and in turn receive a distributed share of the farm's harvest each week during growing seasons.

It's a way folks can help support a farm in their community and enjoy in the freshest, most local harvest around, and reap the benefits that come from having a local farm nearby. It is a great way to really connect to the food you eat.

See our website for more information on joining our CSA family and helping support the endeavors of Eden's Garden.

About Me

Eden’s Gardener is the owner and founder of a small, urban farm just outside of Dallas, TX. What started out as an investment opportunity to an entrepreneur, bloomed into something much different than what was intended. Touching many people in many different ways, this now farm from horse pasture, grows people as well as clean, nutritious food for the community where it is located.
For more info see "Where We're From" on the website at www.lifeonmyfarm.com.